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The Ultimate Fighting Championship is making its network TV debut on Fox this Saturday by presenting the World Heavyweight Title bout between the division's two most promising fighters in champ Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior dos Santos. This event is taking place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. Hardcore fans have been naming this as one of their dream matchups for almost a couple of years now, long before Cain was the champ and it is now finally coming to fruition after a few delays.
The main event is the only fight that will be shown on Fox's one hour broadcast (regardless of the fight's length, even if it lasts 10 seconds) but there is also a very high quality undercard of fights which will be streaming live both via the UFC's Facebook Page and also on FoxSports.com.
The UFC's deal with Fox doesn't officially start until next year when they will air 4 full fight cards on the main network in the 2012 calendar year along with a number of Fight Night-caliber cards on FX. This show is considered to be a "bonus" show and was put together quickly which is why this particular show is only one hour long and will only show one fight. In 2012 the one hour/one fight thing will not be the norm.
So, here's the full fight card:
Watch the full UFC Primetime: Velasquez vs. dos Santos show which aired on Fox
Again, this is the main event for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Since it's a championship fight, it's scheduled for 5 rounds (5 minutes each) as opposed to 3 rounds. Heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez won the title over a year ago at the same venue with a TKO victory over Brock Lesnar. Velasquez then underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff which has sidelined him ever since.
Junior Dos Santos officially earned his title shot at UFC 117 in August of 2010 by winning a dominating decision over Ultimate Fighter winner Roy Nelson and has been waiting in line for it ever since. When Cain got injured, JDS decided to be a coach for a season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Brock Lesnar, and they were supposed to fight after the season's conclusion for yet another #1 contender bout. Lesnar had to pull out of the fight to undergo surgery for the diverticulitis that he thought was gone which left JDS to fight Shane Carwin. Dos Santos won a convincing unanimous decision over Carwin, and held on to his title shot as a result.
This fight was originally scheduled to be on Pay Per View at UFC 139 in San Jose, but when the UFC struck their monumental deal with Fox they had to move some things around to put a great matchup on their network debut.
The biggest question mark in this fight is going to be how well Velasquez has recovered from the major surgery he had. If he's back to the way he was, then his wrestling prowess may be too much for dos Santos. Then again, dos Santos has displayed exceptional takedown defense as well as a knack for getting back on his feet very quickly in the event that he finds himself on the ground.
As far as heavyweights in MMA go, this has the makings of the greatest matchup since Fedor vs. Cro Cop. Only time will tell if the fight delivers on a level even close to that.
THIS FIGHT AND THE ONES BELOW WILL NOT AIR ON FOX, THEY WILL BE STREAMED LIVE ON THE UFC'S FACEBOOK PAGE AND FOXSPORTS.COM BEGINNING AT 1:45pm PT / 4:45pm ET
This is a fight to determine who will be the next person to challenge UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar for his title some time in early 2012.
Nearly two years ago, after getting choked out by perennial contender Kenny Florian and dropping a split decision to then-top lightweight contender Diego Sanchez, Clay Guida was thought to be nothing more than a fringe gatekeeper in the 155lb division. Since then he has racked up four consecutive wins and is now one fight away from a shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship.
Standing in his way is former WEC champion Benson Henderson. Many thought that the lightweight fighters coming over from WEC would not have any chance at all in competing with the UFC's lightweights. Ben Henderson now has a UFC win over Mark Bocek and an especially dominating win over then-top contender Jim Miller. If he's able to add Clay Guida's name to that list he will have the next shot at the 155lb UFC title.
With both fighters having wrestling backgrounds and Guida's tendency to brawl when he can't get a fight to the floor, this fight looks to be a classic as well.
This looks to be yet another very entertaining fight. Dustin Poirier made a name for himself at UFC 125 when, as a late replacement for an injured Jose Aldo and in his debut as a featherweight he pulled off a HUGE upset against then-#1 contender Josh Grispi in a shutout 30-27 unanimous decision. He defeated Jason Young after that at UFC 131 and with a win here over Pablo Garza on top of that he would have to be considered "in the mix" as UFC President Dana White would say, referring to being in title contention.
Pablo Garza is coming off a highlight reel-worthy flying triangle victory over Yves Jabouin at UFC 129 and will be trying to maintain any kind of career momentum he still may have from that fight. He's 11-1 and this will be his 4th fight under the Zuffa banner. These are two promising up-and-comers who need this win to advance in their careers and it should be a great fight.
The rest of the card:
